Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

I guess I don't really understand POI. If I am passing a location that I want to record the location, I do a "set mark". How do I turn that into a POI? I haven't had much success with sqlite and POI databases. I think I have properly built a POI table and Category table using a sql statement I found. Do I have to dig into the track file Isaved and find the mark I set so that I can use the information to manually insert a record? That seems like a lot of work.

While we're on the topic of POIs, could someone point me to a simple POI file and tell me how to get it into the database? I got the one that someone posted from Italy told mmapper where the file was (settings->poi) but I don't think I ever did anything to make it get entered into the sqlite table.

If this is covered somewhere in a howto, please point me to it.
thanks, rhackenb

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

The only non-manual way to convert a track mark into a POI is to first save the track to a file, then open the file as a route. You can then tap-and-hold on a "waypoint" of the route and select "Waypoint | Add POI..." from the pop-up menu.

The reason this works is that "marks" in a "track" are equivalent to "waypoints" in a "route." There is no way to make a POI from a track mark, but there _is_ a way to create a POI from a route waypoint, thus you need to "convert" your track mark to a route waypoint by saving your track to a file and then loading that same file as a route.

I good explanation of tracks vs. routes and marks vs. waypoints is in this post, if you're curious.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Thanks for the explanation about the correlation of tracks to routes. My problem is that I don't understand how the data is stored.

I seem to be able to save locations to POI for a specific mark on a track (as a track file). What puzzles me is where this info is saved. I used sqlite to see the data entry stored. When I use sqlite (not sqlite3) with /media/mmc1/poi/poi as the argument, I get the following:

/media/mmc1/poi $ sqlite poi
Unable to open database "poi": file is encrypted or is not a database

Yet, when I do a "grep Point000 poi" on that file, I get:
Point000003turn to marina
Point000002#*
Point000001

This seems to be consistent with locations that I entered from mmapper.

Why can't I read the database with sqlite? Do I need sqlite3? If so, I can't seem to download and install sqlite3 because the only repository where I can find reference to it is: http://eko.one.pl/maemo/eko.one.pl.install
That gets me a "[403] Forbidden : Dostęp zabroniony" error.

Do I need sqlite3 to read this database? If so, how do I install it and do I have to first create the poi and categories databases? Is there a top-level guide to mmapper, POIs, and sqlite?

-- rhackenb

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Try this: http://eko.one.pl/maemo/dists/mistra....8-1_armel.deb

Yes, you need sqlite3, not sqlite (v2)

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Almost there. I was able to download sqlite3 from the link you gave. However, when I tried to install it, it said that I also needed libsqlite3-0. I can't get it from your site for the same reason (403 error). Could you send the link for the library? Also, why are we getting a 403 error in the first place? Is the link wrong on http://eko.one.pl/index.php?page=Nokia770_software?

Thanks,
rhackenb

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

http://eko.one.pl/maemo/dists/mistra....8-1_armel.deb

Proper link:
http://eko.one.pl/maemo/index.php?pa...one.pl.install

not ... /maemo/eko.one.pl.install. BTW: my sqlite3 packages is in mistral repo, not bora.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

When I visit that link, the application manager opens and tells me that the package cannot be installed. What is missing, apparently, is libsqlite3-0 version 3.3.8. I currently have version 3.3.5-0.2osso1. Where do I find version 3.3.8?

Also, am I supposed to be in red pill mode when I do this?

Thanks,

rhackenb

Re: Voice and Waypoints
 

How do you activate Flite through the application manager? I have tried downloading updates and latest applications but I never get anything on Flite. Is there a direct link to download this particular software? Please advise. Thank you,

Re: Voice and Waypoints
 

flite is available from the same application repository as Maemo Mapper. All you have to do is install it and enable the voice synthesis option in Maemo Mapper's Settings dialog (in the "Announce" tab). Here is a link for downloading and installing flite:

http://www.gnuite.com/nokia770/flite.install

Questions on accuracy
 

Great product and thanks again for supporting OpenStreetMap.

I am using MaemoMapper with an i-Blue BT-GPS to log tracks that I process with OSM. I use the OSM map repository to see what I have not yet tracked.

What I notice, is that the accuracy of the MM tracks is not always good. It is okay if you do long forward stretches, but tends to give a lot of bogus results when you take a lot of turns in cities (which I do a lot, because I want to track every street and every corner). Btw: I wait at every turn for the signal to stabilise.

What I am wondering is, is my GPS giving bogus results (due to buildings, sharp corners, etc.) or is MM doing some optimistic prediction when the signal is of less quality?

If so, would it be possible to switch prediction off and just track the points that are good (i.e. skip points where the signal is below a certain treshold?). This would make MM an even better tool for OSM track usage.

Best,
Zoran

Re: Questions on accuracy
 

Maemo Mapper does not attempt to modify or optimize a GPS receiver's output. It uses exactly what your receiver tells it, and only if that answer is considered by your receiver to be "valid." Your GPS receiver might be doing some optimization or guessing on its end, but that is beyond Maemo Mapper's control.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Is it possible to make the map move while you move. I find it frustrating to keep on moving around the map to see my trail and where im headed while im driving.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

It took me a while to figure this out. When you have GPS enabled and are connected to the GPS, do Auto-Center->Lat/Lon. This will make the map keep refreshing as you move. As an alternative, you can choose Lead, which will keep your position dot closest to the edge of the map that you are coming from so that the way forward occupies most of the screen.

In conjunction with that, you can also select View->Velocity Vector. This will extend a bar out from your current position that points in the direction you are heading. The length of the bar is proportional to speed that you are going.

If you don't see these options, you may have an older version installed. Mine is 1.4.3-3 for the n800.

-- rhackenb

Re: Voice and Waypoints
 

Thanks for the info gnuite. I am slowly catching up to the rest of the forum (: Waypoints and POI's are next. Thanks again.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Yes, the script requires Python 2.5

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Hmm, the script generates a dbus error when I try to run it:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "./wikipedia2poi.py", line 30, in <module>
bus = dbus.SessionBus()
File "debian/python2.5-dbus/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/dbus/_dbus.py", line 266, in __new__
File "debian/python2.5-dbus/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/dbus/_dbus.py", line 99, in __new__
File "dbus_bindings.pyx", line 1692, in dbus_bindings.bus_get
TypeError: exceptions must be strings, classes, or instances, not type

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Do you have geoclue and the hostip backend for it installed? You can get them from the maemo hackers repository.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

I have a question on the way Maemo Mapper calculates the speed displayed in the upper left corner. I remember seeing a post that Maemo Mapper does not consider altitude in its calculations. I assume this means that speed is calculated for horizontal distances between gps readings. Does this mean that the speed Maemo Mapper reports when traveling on an incline is less than actual speed due to the angle? I travel in mountainous areas and was curious, not that there is any problem.

Thanks

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

A related question concerns the distance covered. I assume that the MMapper does not measure the ups and downs.

-- rhackenb

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

This may be in a post but sorry I can't find it. I downloaded a large amt of maps for a trip I am making to Italy and I'm sure it will work great. However when I return to home I won't need the map cache-how does one find the actual folder to delete from where it was saved? I only see numbers on the folders (many!)

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Maemo Mapper uses the speed that is reported by your GPS receiver - it does not do any calculation. Whether that speed includes vertical velocity depends on your GPS receiver.

Maemo Mapper's distance calculations do not take altitude changes into account.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

You can use the "Manage Maps" dialog and select "Delete" instead of "Download".

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

gnuite, i have a few ideas that i wanted bounce off you. are you open to input for new functionality and possibly a market audience to cater to?

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

I'm always open to new ideas, although I have been a little adamant about keeping Maemo Mapper lean and mean. I don't want to bloat it and subsequently turn it into what GpsDrive has come to be. (Not that GpsDrive is bad; it works great on a laptop; just not a Nokia 770/N800.)

Implementation of new ideas is also subject to my schedule. I have a full-time job, after all. :)

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

understood, i lay no claim to your programming schedule. not having read about/used gpsdrive, i cant say what bloat you speak of. my thoughts were more about a service oriented app.

the following are a few thoughts i had. feel free to nit-pick, critique or otherwise dismiss any or all of them...

Create a database of cities containing:

- Points-of-Interest around a city
- GPS location of POI
- street name/location of POI
- brief details of POI
- cost related to POI (admission, food, lodging, etc)
- Group category of POI
- Color association of POI
- Icons for POIs???

Predefine tours based on Group Categories, Duration of Stay, or Travel Distance
Add the ability to “string” POIs together in a “Your Tour of this City” map or add to predefined tours
Enable layered type selection of POIs, where like POIs in Group show on map when cycled through.
Draw boundaries around specific areas such as “Red Light District”, “Downtown”, “The Strip”
Color code boundaries to Group color
Icon scheme – color and image standard to follow
Date and time tracking – Point-in-Time records; local time, DST, home time, GMT
Allow user feedback and (reviewed) updates for changes in pricing/details of POIs
Include routes of public transportation, and possibly links to timetables
Integrate international transportation methods and costs, with links to/POIs of places to buy tickets.

When you download a tour package, it includes 0, 2 and 4 level maps of city, POIs and database, all other files necessary.

i was more thinking the target of this would be a backpacking student traveler, out of town business traveler or otherwise bugdet minded day tripper.

some ideas may be logistical nightmares, others might be do-able. your thoughts?

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

As long as we are talking about new features, here is a basic one that I can't seem to find. When I make a waypoint (that is, I hold down the pointer on a particular spot on a displayed map and name the waypoint), this waypoint should go to a waypoint file that is not associated with the current track or route. Maybe I can do this already but I don't know how.

My sole experience with GPS software is the Garmin EMap. When I mark a current location, up pops a dialog to save the current location. This waypoint is saved to an waypoint repository.

From the Emap interface, I can always select a particular waypoint and tell the GoTo function to tell me how far away that waypoint is. I can also get info about the waypoint (lat/lon/elev). On the Emap, I have to actually be at the location to make a waypoint but with MMapper, I would prefer to scroll to that location, hold down the pointer and name a waypoint. This would be of tremendous use to me. This means that when I travel anywhere, the nearby set waypoints would appear on the map. If this were saved to a common waypoint file, I could also manually edit the file and add waypoints that I or others have already collected. It could either be plain comma-separated text or xml format.

Any chance that you could add this feature?

BTW, the ability of mmapper to use google street maps is invaluable. It cuts through all the crap of having to deal with antiquated and expensive proprietary map. I just wish you could also port mmapper to Linux and Microsoft Windows as well (Linux should be a breeze). This is a tremendously good tool. It is very accurate. I actually find myself being located of the right side of a street while travelling (using the i-Blue 737). I never found that accuracy with the Emap.

-- rhackenb

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Hopefully, I'll be able to address some of the POI concerns with a POI web service similar to the GPX Driving Directions web service. And it is certainly possible for someone else to write a web service to do these kinds of things, and I'd consider integrating that into Maemo Mapper.

Being able to package and distribute that POI data and/or map data might be dangerous, though, depending on the licensing of that data. You can't just package Google Maps data and deliver it, and the same probably goes for their POI data. OpenStreetMap, maybe...

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

It sounds like you are talking about POIs. At the moment, you can tap-and-hold any location on the map and add a POI for that waypoint. That POI goes into a database separate from the track and route. You can then tap-and-hold on that POI (at any time) and download a route to that POI.

The functionality that isn't there, yet, is to export that POI data to a GPX file, or import POI data from a GPX file.

Maemo Mapper is optimized for the Maemo platform (hence the name). I never anticipated it being more useful than GpsDrive, and thus I never tried to write it in a platform-portable way. I just figured that, if someone needed Maemo-Mapper-style functionality on their laptop, they would just use GpsDrive.

Now, arguably, you may find Maemo Mapper more useful than GpsDrive. If you really want to use Maemo Mapper on a Linux laptop, you can download the maemo SDK (or use the VMware appliance that's out there) and run Maemo Mapper inside the SDK. There is an i386 deb in the repositories, and I can provide one in the Garage, too, if necessary.

Not a perfect solution, I admit, but doable. :)

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Maybe I am talking about POI. Wouldn't know because I have never been able to successfully install sqlite3. It seems like I need Python2.4 and I have Python 2.5. Either it won't run under that version or I am missing libraries that I can't find. The eko.one.pl repository seems to keep leading me to a 403 error. Maybe if I could install sqlite3, the problem would be solved. Can anyone tell me the steps that will really work?

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

mmy point was that you could package the POIs and details as ccommunity based info collected from a wiki style rating system. are the issues that i am missing?

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

That is exactly what wikipedia2poi does.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

OK, thanks... now I just have to figure out how to uninstall obscura (which won't let me uninstall Python 2.4... Ouch!)

Thanks, Omar

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

I noticed that when I press on a location on the map and choose Location->Add POI, it allows me to enter a POI name, category, and comment. This put a purple square on the screen. I can select that purple square and edit the contents.

After I shut down mmapper, I can use xterm to go to the poi file that was modified. It contains a mixture of gibberish and text that represents what I put in for each location. The text is in the form of SQL statements. However, when I enter at the xterm prompt "sqlite3", it doesn't launch and when I do 'which sqlite3', I don't get anything. When I re-launch mmapper, all of my POI's are there. How does it do that without sqlite3? Is mmapper simply interpreting the sql statements and no sqlite3 db engine is involved? If that's the case, I guess I only need sqlite3 to manually work with the database.

Can anyone verify that this is how it works?

-- rhackenb

However,

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

MMapper uses libsqlite3 to access the database.
you have to install sqlite3( which uses libsqlite3 too) to get a command line utility to access your database manually.

Fred

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

where do i get the package from maemo-hackers? it is not in the bora/main.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

You might need to go "red pill" to see it since geoclue is a library.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

No, I didn't have hostip installed - that did it. I assume that the script needs to be run from the directory containing the poi.db file (at least that's where I ran it). Worked like a charm. I tried installing gpsd and the geoclue gpsd backend, but that seems pretty broken at the moment. It would be a nice option though, as I'm not sure the hostip backend would populate correctly if I'm using a EDGE connection from T-Mobile (but I haven't tested that theory).

I also have to say kudos to the developers for setting up the ability to auto-download map repositories instead of configuring them by hand. All around, a great tool. Now to just replace my crappy Wintec bluetooth GPS with something that doesn't take fifteen minutes to acquire a lock and then show me bouncing around a three block radius while standing still. ;)

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

It can be run anywhere, but for now it requires you to keep the poi.db in its default location. This is because current pymaemo doesn't have GConf available and so I can't read a custom POI DB location from Maemo Mapper's config.

Anyway, great to hear it worked! :cool:

hostip is very inaccurate at least with GPRS/3G networks here in Finland. Usually you get a totally wrong city.

GPS (or Plazes for example) would be a lot better, but again I'm a bit limited by not having GConf available and so not being able to read user's positioning backend preference.

So far the script is mostly just a proof-of-concept. With next release of pymaemo I hope I'll be able to make it a lot better.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

I've solved the sqlite3 installation problem:

1. go to http://eko.one.pl/maemo/index.php
2. click on "dists"
3. click on "mistral"
4. click on "user"
5. click on "binary-armel"
6. click on "libsqlite3-0_3.3.8-1_armel.deb" and go through the install process
7. click on "sqlite3_3.3.8-1_armel.deb" and go through the install process.

This is not an obvious process you would be tempted to look in "bora" instead of "mistral". The link that eco.one.pl gives for sqlite3 could be changed to http://eko.one.pl/maemo/index.php?pa...Fbinary-armel/
and save a lot of headaches.

To prove that sqlite3 really works, bring up an xterm and cd to where the poi file is. Issue the command "sqlite3 poi" and you will be put in the interactive sqlite interface. Issue "select * from poi;" and you will get back all the data in the table.

Working with this table is easier if you simply ssh into your n800 from your desktop. If you have a lot of waypoints stored up from an older gps, I guess there is a way to load from a datafile. If I discover how, I'll post it.

-- rhackenb

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

ok, the red pill install of geoclue worked and i installed sqllite3. i then changed the path in the .py script to match the path that my poi.db file is in. just for kicks i put the .py script in the same dir. i opened maemo mapper and connected the gps. i found myself on the map and got coordinates with the gps.

then i open xterm and run `python ./wikipedia2poi.py`. it returned the following...

According to GeoClue your are in -999.99 -999.99.
Pulling local wikipedia pages from Geonames

i was on my lan, so it had internet access, but it doesnt pull any data about local POIs. Any ideas? i installed everything for geoclue, if that makes a difference.